Stiction-free drying process with contaminant removal for high-aspect ratio semiconductor device str

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a method of cleaning a substrate and a substrate processing apparatus that is configured to perform the method of cleaning the substrate. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of cleaning a substrate in a manner that reduces or eliminates the negative effects of line stiction between semiconductor device features. Other embodiments of the present invention relate to a substrate processing apparatus that allows for cleaning of the substrate in a manner that reduces or eliminates line stiction between semiconductor device features formed on the substrate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/078,373, filed Nov. 12, 2013, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/841,779, filed Jul. 1, 2013,and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/729,965, filed Nov.26, 2012, which are all herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method andapparatus for cleaning semiconductor substrates, and more specifically,to a stiction-free cleaning and/or drying process for high-aspect-ratiosemiconductor device structures.

Description of the Related Art

In the cleaning of semiconductor devices, it is necessary to removeliquid and solid contaminants from surfaces of a substrate, thus leavingclean surfaces. Wet cleaning processes generally involve the use ofcleaning liquids, such as aqueous cleaning solutions. After wet cleaningthe substrate, it is necessary to remove the cleaning liquid from thesurface of the substrate in a cleaning chamber.

Most current wet cleaning techniques utilize a liquid spraying orimmersion step to clean the substrate. Drying of the substrate that hashigh aspect ratio features or low-k materials which have voids or poresis very challenging subsequent to the application of a cleaning liquid.Capillary forces of the cleaning liquid often cause deformation ofmaterials in these structures which can create undesired stiction, whichcan damage the semiconductor substrate in addition to leaving residue onthe substrate from the cleaning solution utilized. The aforementioneddrawbacks are especially apparent on substrates with high-aspect-ratiosemiconductor device structures during subsequent drying of thesubstrate. Line stiction, or line collapse, results from bending of theside walls, which form the high-aspect-ratio trench or via, towards eachother due to capillary pressure across the liquid-air interface over theliquid trapped in the trench or via during the wet cleaning process(es).Features with narrow line width and high-aspect-ratios are especiallysusceptible to the difference in surface tension created betweenliquid-air and liquid-wall interfaces due to capillary pressure, whichis also sometimes referred to as capillary force. Current workabledrying practices are facing a steeply rising challenge in preventingline stiction as a result of rapid device scaling advancements.

As a result, there is a need in the art for drying processes whichreduce or eliminate line stiction that can reduce the semiconductordevice yield on a substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments provided herein generally relates to a method of cleaning asubstrate and a substrate processing apparatus. More specifically,embodiments relate to a method of cleaning a substrate in a manner thatreduces or eliminates the negative effects of line stiction betweensemiconductor device features. Other embodiments relate to a substrateprocessing apparatus that allows for cleaning of the substrate in amanner that reduces or eliminates line stiction between semiconductordevice features.

One embodiment generally relates to a method of cleaning a substrate.The method comprises exposing a substrate to a solvent to remove anamount of a residual cleaning solution disposed on a surface of thesubstrate, exposing the substrate to a supercritical fluid to remove thesolvent disposed on the surface of the substrate, and exposing thesubstrate to a plasma.

Another embodiment provides a substrate processing apparatus. Theapparatus has a transfer chamber having a robot disposed therein. Therobot is adapted to transfer one or more substrates between a pluralityof processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber. In someconfigurations, the substrate processing apparatus may include a wetclean chamber coupled to the transfer chamber. The wet clean chamber hasa substrate support and a cleaning solution delivery apparatus that isadapted to provide a cleaning solution to a processing region of the wetclean chamber. A solvent exchange processing chamber is coupled to thetransfer chamber. The solvent exchange chamber has a substrate supportand is coupled to a liquid solvent delivery apparatus adapted to provideliquid solvent to the solvent exchange chamber. A supercritical fluidchamber is coupled to the transfer chamber. The supercritical fluidchamber has a substrate support, a heating element, a port adapted toreceive gaseous or liquid CO₂, and a pressurization apparatus. A plasmachamber is coupled to the transfer chamber. The plasma chamber has asubstrate support, a showerhead, a port adapted to receive a halogen orO₂ gas, and an RF power source adapted to create a plasma in aprocessing region of the plasma chamber.

Another embodiment provides a substrate processing apparatus. Theapparatus has a wet clean chamber coupled to a transfer chamber. The wetclean chamber has a substrate support and a processing region that iscoupled to a cleaning solution delivery apparatus adapted to provide acleaning solution to the processing region of the wet clean chamber. Asolvent exchange processing chamber is coupled to the transfer chamber.The solvent exchange chamber has a substrate support and is coupled to aliquid solvent delivery apparatus adapted to provide a liquid solvent tothe solvent exchange chamber. A supercritical fluid chamber is coupledto the transfer chamber. The supercritical fluid chamber has a substratesupport, a heating element, a port adapted to receive a gaseous orliquid CO₂, and a pressurization apparatus. A plasma chamber is coupledto the transfer chamber. The plasma chamber has a substrate support, ashowerhead, a port adapted to receive a halogen or O₂ gas, and an RFpower source adapted to create a plasma in the processing region of theplasma chamber. The transfer chamber has a first robot adapted totransfer one or more substrates between the wet clean chamber, solventexchange processing chamber, the supercritical fluid chamber and theplasma chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentinvention can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates the effect of stiction created between featuresformed within a semiconductor device structure formed on a substrate dueto the creation of a capillary force during drying subsequent to a wetprocessing;

FIG. 2A illustrates a substrate processing apparatus according tocertain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 2B illustrates a substrate processing apparatus according tocertain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 3A illustrates the substrate process flow in a processing apparatusaccording to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 3B illustrates the substrate process flow in a processing apparatusaccording to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 4A illustrates a cross-sectional view of a wet processing chamberaccording to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 4B illustrates a schematic view of a solvent filtration systemaccording to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 5A illustrates a cross-sectional schematic view of a supercriticalfluid chamber according to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 5B illustrates a schematic side view of the supercritical fluidchamber of FIG. 5A according to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 5C illustrates a partial cross-sectional schematic view of thesupercritical fluid chamber of FIG. 5A according to certain embodimentsprovided herein;

FIG. 5D illustrates a schematic side view of the supercritical fluidchamber of FIG. 5C according to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 5E schematically illustrates a supercritical fluid delivery systemaccording to certain embodiments provided herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates a phase change diagram representative of CO₂;

FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a plasma chamber accordingto certain embodiments provided herein; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of method steps for cleaning asubstrate according to certain embodiments provided herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in oneembodiment may be beneficially utilized on other embodiments withoutspecific recitation. The drawings referred to here should not beunderstood as being drawn to scale unless specifically noted. Also, thedrawings are often simplified and details or components omitted forclarity of presentation and explanation. The drawings and discussionserve to explain principles discussed below, where like designationsdenote like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments provided herein generally relate to a method and apparatusused to clean a substrate. More specifically, embodiments relate to amethod of cleaning a substrate in a manner that reduces or eliminatesthe line stiction created between semiconductor device features after awet cleaning process has been performed on the substrate. Otherembodiments relate to a substrate processing apparatus that allows forcleaning of the substrate in a manner that reduces or eliminates linestiction between semiconductor device features.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments provided herein. However, it will beevident to one skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, specificapparatus structures have not been described so as not to obscureembodiments described. The following description and figures areillustrative of the embodiments and are not to be construed as limitingthe invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view that illustrates a portion ofa semiconductor device 100 in which line stiction has occurred betweentwo features within the semiconductor device 100. As shown, the highaspect ratio device structures are formed on a surface of a substrate.During processing, device structures 102 should remain in a verticalorientation and walls 106 should not cross the openings 104 and contactadjacent walls 106 of the device structures 102. When the semiconductordevice 100 is being dried after being cleaned with wet chemistries, thewalls 106 of the device structures 102 are subjected to capillary forcesdue to the air-liquid interface created by the cleaning liquid disposedwithin the opening 104, which causes the walls 106 of adjacent devicestructures 102 to bend towards one another and contact each other. Linestiction results from the contact between walls 106 of adjacent devicestructures 102, ultimately causing closure of the openings 104. Linestiction is generally undesirable because it prevents access to theopenings 104 during subsequent substrate processing steps, such asfurther deposition steps.

To prevent line stiction, according to a method provided herein, asubstrate may be exposed to an aqueous cleaning solution, such asde-ionized water or cleaning chemicals, in a wet clean chamber. Such asubstrate includes a semiconductor substrate having electronic devicesdisposed or formed thereon. The use of the aqueous cleaning solutions onthe substrate in a wet clean chamber removes residues left on thesubstrate after the wet cleaning processes have been performed. In someconfigurations, the wet clean chamber may be a single wafer cleaningchamber and/or a horizontal spinning chamber. Additionally, the wetclean chamber may have a megasonic plate adapted to generate acousticenergy directed onto the non-device side of the substrate.

After wet cleaning the substrate, the substrate may be transferred to asolvent exchange chamber to displace any previously used aqueouscleaning solutions used in the wet clean chamber. The substrate may thenbe transferred to a supercritical fluid chamber for further cleaning anddrying steps to be performed on the substrate. In one embodiment, dryingthe substrate may involve the delivery of a supercritical fluid to asurface of the substrate. A drying gas may be selected to transitioninto a supercritical state when subjected to certain pressure andtemperature configurations that are achieved or maintained in thesupercritical processing chamber. One example of such a drying gasincludes carbon dioxide (CO₂). Another example of a drying gas ispropane (C₃H₈). FIG. 6 illustrates a phase change diagram for CO₂. Sincesupercritical CO₂ is a supercritical gas, it has no surface tension inthat its surface tension is similar to a gas, but has densities that aresimilar to a liquid. FIG. 6 illustrates that supercritical CO₂ has acritical point at a pressure of about 73.0 atm and a temperature ofabout 31.1° C. One unique property of a supercritical fluid, such asCO₂, is that condensation will not occur at any pressure above thesupercritical pressure and temperatures above the supercritical point(e.g., 31.1° C. and 73 atm for CO₂). The region to the right of thecritical temperature and above critical pressure (e.g. 73 atm for CO₂)defines the supercritical state of the CO₂ drying gas.

The supercritical fluid, due to its unique properties, may penetratesubstantially all pores or voids in the substrate and remove anyremaining liquids or particles that may be present in the openings 104.In one embodiment, after the supercritical processing has proceeded fora desired period of time to remove particles and residues, the pressureof the chamber is decreased at a nearly constant temperature, allowingthe supercritical fluid to transition directly to a gaseous phase withinthe openings 104. Liquids typically present in the openings 104 prior tosupercritical fluid treatment may be displacement solvents from thesolvent exchange chamber. Particles typically present in the openings104 may be any solid particulate matter, such as organic species (i.e.,carbon), inorganic species (i.e. silicon), and/or metals. Examples ofopenings 104 that may be dried by supercritical fluid include voids orpores in a dielectric layer, voids or pores in a low-k dielectricmaterial, and other types of gaps in the substrate that may trapcleaning fluids and particles. Moreover, supercritical drying mayprevent line stiction by bypassing the liquid state during phasetransition and eliminating capillary forces created between the walls106 of the device structures 102 due to the negligible surface tensionof supercritical fluid, such as supercritical CO₂.

The substrate may then be transferred from the supercritical fluidchamber to a post processing chamber. The post processing chamber may bea plasma processing chamber, in which contaminants that may be presenton the substrate may be removed. Post processing the substrate may alsofurther release any line stiction present in the device structures. Theprocesses described herein are useful for cleaning device structureshaving high aspect ratios, such as aspect ratios of about 10:1 orgreater, 20:1 or greater, or 30:1 or greater. In certain embodiments,the processes described herein are especially useful for cleaning3D/vertical NAND flash device structures.

FIG. 2A illustrates a substrate processing apparatus that may be adaptedto perform one or more of the steps described above, according to oneembodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, the processingapparatus 200 comprises a wet clean chamber 201, a solvent exchangechamber 202, a supercritical fluid chamber 203, a post processingchamber 204, a transfer chamber 206, and a wet robot 208. Processing asubstrate may include, but is not limited to, forming electrical devicessuch as transistors, capacitors, or resistors, that are interconnectedby metal lines, which are insulated by interlayer dielectrics upon thesubstrate. These processes may include cleaning the substrate, cleaningfilms formed on the substrate, drying the substrate, and drying filmsformed on the substrate. In another embodiment, the processing apparatus200 includes an inspection chamber 205, which may include tools (notshown) to inspect substrates that have been processed in the processingapparatus 200.

In one embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 200 is a clustertool comprising several substrate processing chambers, such as a wetclean chamber 201, a solvent exchange chamber 202, a supercritical fluidchamber 203, a post processing chamber 204, and a transfer chamber 206.The processing apparatus 200 may also comprise film deposition chambers(not shown) such as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber, an atomiclayer deposition (ALD) chamber and/or a physical vapor deposition (PVD)chamber. The chambers may be positioned about the wet robot 208 whichmay be disposed in the transfer chamber 206. The wet robot 208 comprisesa motor, a base, an arm, and an end effector 209 configured to transfersubstrates between the chambers. Optionally, the wet robot 208 may havemultiple arms and multiple end effectors to increase the throughput ofthe processing apparatus 200. In one embodiment, the wet robot 208transfers substrates between the aforementioned chambers. In anotherembodiment, at least one of the end effectors of the wet robot 208 is adedicated dry end effector (e.g., adapted to handle dry wafers) and atleast one of the end effectors of the wet robot 208 is a dedicated wetend effector (e.g., adapted to handle wet wafers). The dedicated dry endeffector may be used to transfer substrates between the supercriticalfluid chamber 203 and the post processing chamber 204. The processingapparatus 200 also comprises a dry robot 216 disposed in a factoryinterface 218 which may be coupled to the processing apparatus 200 and aplurality of substrate cassettes 212 and 214, each holding a pluralityof substrates to be cleaned or dried, or that have been cleaned ordried. The dry robot 216 may be configured to transfer substratesbetween the cassettes 212 and 214 and the wet clean chamber 201 and postprocessing chamber 204. In another embodiment, the dry robot 216 may beconfigured to transfer substrates between the supercritical fluidchamber 203 and the post processing chamber 204. The processing chamberswithin the processing apparatus 200 may be placed on a horizontalplatform which houses the substrate transfer chamber 206.

In an alternate embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2B, the processingapparatus 200A may be a linear apparatus comprising several substrateprocessing chambers such as a wet clean chamber 201, a solvent exchangechamber 202, a supercritical fluid chamber 203, a post processingchamber 204, and a transfer chamber 206. For example, the processingapparatus 200A may be the Raider® GT available from Applied Materials,Santa Clara, Calif., however it is contemplated that other processingapparatuses from other manufacturers may be adapted to perform theembodiments described herein. The processing apparatus 200A may alsocomprise film deposition chambers (not shown) such as a CVD chamber, anALD chamber and/or a PVD chamber. The chambers may be positioned about arobot 208A which may be disposed in the transfer chamber 206. The robot208A comprises a motor, a base, an arm, and end effectors 209A and 209Bconfigured to transfer substrates between the chambers. The robot 208Amay have multiple arms and multiple end effectors to increase thethroughput of the processing apparatus 200A. In one embodiment, therobot 208A, having a dedicated wet end effector 209A, transferssubstrates between the aforementioned chambers. The processing apparatus200A may also comprise a factory interface 218 which may be coupled tothe processing apparatus 200A and a plurality of substrate cassettes 212and 214, each holding a plurality of substrates to be cleaned or dried,or that have been cleaned or dried. The robot 208A having the dedicateddry end effector 209B, transfers substrates between the cassettes 212and 214 and the wet clean chamber 201 and post processing chamber 204.In one embodiment, the dedicated dry end effector 209B may be configuredto transfer substrates between the supercritical fluid chamber 203 andthe post processing chamber 204. The chambers within the processingapparatus 200A may be placed on a horizontal platform which houses thesubstrate transfer chamber 206.

In some configurations of the processing apparatus 200A, the robot 208Amay travel along a linear track 220. Chambers may be arranged insequence on one or both sides of the linear track 220. To perform wetsubstrate transfer, excess liquid may be removed from the substrate,such as by rotating the substrate, while still in the chamber so only athin wet layer remains on the substrate surface before the robot 208Atransfers the substrate. In embodiments providing two or more endeffectors on the robot 208A, at least one may be dedicated to wetsubstrate transfer and the other one may be dedicated to dry substratetransfer. More chambers may be installed in the extendable linearconfiguration for high-volume production.

The configurations referred to in the previous embodiments greatlyreduce design complexities of each chamber, enable queue time controlbetween sensitive process steps, and optimize throughput in continuousproduction with adjustable chamber module count to equalize processduration of each key step.

Referring back to FIG. 2A, the cleaning and drying processes of theprocessing apparatus 200 proceed in a sequence timed to optimizethroughput by the use of available chamber space and the wet robot 208.One possible processing sequence for cleaning and drying substrates thathave film(s) formed thereon includes: the dry robot 216 takes an uncleansubstrate from a substrate cassette 212 or 214 and installs thesubstrate in the wet clean chamber 201, the wet robot 208 removes thesubstrate from the wet clean chamber 201 and installs the substrate inthe solvent exchange chamber 202, the wet robot 208 removes thesubstrate from the solvent exchange chamber 202 and installs thesubstrate in the supercritical fluid chamber 203, the dry robot 216, orthe dedicated dry end effector of the wet robot 208, removes thesubstrate from the supercritical fluid chamber 203 and places it in thepost processing chamber 204, and the dry robot 216 removes the substratefrom the post processing chamber 204 and deposits the cleaned and driedsubstrate into one of the substrate cassettes 212 or 214. The movementof the substrate in the processing apparatus 200 may optimize substratecleaning and drying times. Other sequence variations may be used toselect an optimal substrate cleaning and drying cycle time.

In one embodiment, a substrate may be initially processed in apre-processing chamber disposed in a processing apparatus (e.g.,processing apparatus 200), such as a film deposition chamber (not shown)to form a film or films on the substrate or a film etching chamber thatmay remove material from the substrate. The cassettes 212 and 214 maydeliver the substrate to the processing apparatus 200 and the substratemay then be placed in a first processing chamber, such as the wet cleanchamber 201, by a robot. In this configuration, the robot delivers thesubstrates to the first processing chamber from one of the cassettes 212and 214. The substrate may then be exposed to a cleaning solution toremove contaminants, such as material residues/particles or liquidspresent on the substrate, in the wet clean chamber 201. In oneembodiment, the cleaning solution may comprise deionized water, cleaningsolvents, or a combination thereof.

Next, the substrate may be transferred by the wet robot 208 from the wetclean chamber 201 to the solvent exchange chamber 202. In the solventexchange chamber 202, the previously disposed cleaning solution may bedisplaced by a solvent by exposing the substrate to a solvent. In oneembodiment, the solvent used to displace the cleaning solution may be asingle chemical, which may be in either a liquid or a supercriticalphase, or a sequence of various chemicals or mixtures thereof in aliquid or supercritical phase. The condition and phase of the chemicalsor mixtures for displacement may be determined by the relativesolubility, miscibility, and liquid displacement characteristics amongthe deionized water, solvents, and the chemicals or mixtures thereofchosen.

In one embodiment, the substrate may be exposed to the solvent todisplace residual liquid remaining on the substrate. The solvent may beprovided to a top surface of the substrate in a sufficient amount todisplace substantially all of the liquid remaining on the surface of thesubstrate from the prior processing step. The solvent exchange may beperformed by a fill and purge process. For example, a solvent(s), suchas those described above, may be introduced to the solvent exchangechamber 202 and the solvent exchange chamber 202 may be filled with thesolvent to at least cover the substrate. After the solvent exchange hasproceeded for a desired amount of time, the chamber may be purged byremoving the solvent(s) from the solvent exchange chamber 202.

In one embodiment, suitable solvents for the solvent exchange includeacetone, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol and other non-polarsolvents. It is believed that by removing water and exchanging it with asolvent soluble in the supercritical fluid, the subsequent supercriticalflushing and drying may be improved due to the prevention of phaseseparation between the solvent and the supercritical fluid during itsremoval.

In another embodiment, suitable solvents for the solvent exchangeprocess include N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-Methylformamide,1,3-Dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, dimethylacetamide, and dimethylsulfoxide. These polar solvents, such as organic polar solvents,displace water and it is generally desirable that the solvents possess ahigh dielectric constant (greater than 30) and a low evaporation rate(less than 0.5 relative to n-Butyl Acetate). The organic polar solventsmay also generally be miscible in water and suppress precipitation ofsilica particles from the silicon-water reaction.

In one embodiment, the solvent exchange process comprises providing aplurality of solvents to the substrate sequentially to displace theresidual remaining liquid on the substrate surface. In one embodiment ofthe process sequence, a multiple step solvent exchange process may beperformed by delivering a polar solvent and then a non-polar solvent tothe surface of the substrate to remove the residual liquid. In oneexample, the process sequence includes providing a first solvent thatcomprises a polar solvent that is configured to displace deionized waterfrom the substrate, and then a second solvent that comprises a non-polarsolvent, such as about 90 percent or greater liquid isopropyl alcohol(IPA), which may be utilized at room temperature to displace the polarsolvent on the substrate in the solvent exchange chamber 202. Use of apolar solvent may be effective in helping to remove any residualparticles, which is important before providing a non-polar solvent, suchas IPA, to the substrate surface. Use of a polar and subsequentnon-polar solvent is believed to more effectively remove the residualliquid and any residual particles or similar contaminants from thesubstrate.

However, due to the structure of most polar solvents, after the polarsolvent has displaced the cleaning fluid (i.e., aqueous solution), thepolar solvent, such as an organic polar solvent which has a lowsolubility in supercritical CO₂, needs to be replaced with a non-polarsolvent to assure that the polar solvent may be easily removed from thesurface of the substrate during the subsequent process steps. After anon-polar solvent, such as IPA, has displaced the organic polar solvent,the subsequent displacement of the non-polar solvent with supercriticalfluids (e.g., super critical CO₂) may be performed. In a preferredembodiment, the organic polar solvents comprise N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidoneor N-Methylformamide, or combinations thereof. Therefore, in oneexample, the solvent exchange process may comprise displacing thecleaning solution with an organic polar solvent, and then displacing theorganic polar solvent with a non-polar organic solvent.

Next, a phase transition process may be performed to prepare thesubstrate for subsequent supercritical cleaning and drying processes.The phase change process may proceed in one of two manners, or acombination thereof. In one embodiment, after displacement of theresidual material on the surface of the substrate with a solvent, suchas a non-polar solvent, has been performed, the solvent may be directlydisplaced with a supercritical fluid, such as pure supercritical CO₂ orC₃H₈. In this embodiment, pure supercritical fluid may be provided tothe supercritical fluid chamber 203. Accordingly, the temperature andpressure maintained in the supercritical fluid chamber 203 may beadjusted to maintain the fluid in a supercritical state. In anotherembodiment, if the chemicals or chemical mixtures used in theaforementioned displacement process are liquid, such as liquid CO₂, andmay be transitioned to a supercritical phase, a phase transition processmay be used to convert the chemicals or chemical mixtures to asupercritical fluid. For example, 90 percent or greater liquid IPA maybe displaced by liquid CO₂ at about 5-8° C. and about 50 bar. In oneembodiment, the about 5-8° C. and about 50 bar liquid CO₂ describedabove may be heated to about 40° C. and a pressure of about 95 bar inthe supercritical fluid chamber 203. As a result of the creation of thesupercritical phase, capillary pressure due to the difference betweenliquid-gas and liquid-solid surface tension is eliminated. Theelimination of capillary pressure prevents bending and interaction ofthe clean surfaces, which may reduce the probability of stiction fromoccurring in the high-aspect-ratio features.

In one embodiment, supercritical fluid comprising the same types ofchemicals or chemical mixtures as previously described may be formed andintroduced to the supercritical fluid chamber 203 to clean and flushaway particles and residues remaining on the surface of the substrate ina supercritical flushing process. In one embodiment, CO₂ may be used toform a supercritical fluid. The supercritical CO₂ may be formed outsidethe supercritical fluid chamber 203 and then introduced to thesupercritical fluid chamber 203. In one embodiment, supercritical CO₂ ata point above the supercritical point, such as about 40° C. and about 95bar, may be formed outside the supercritical fluid chamber 203 and thenintroduced to the supercritical fluid chamber 203.

In another embodiment, liquid CO₂ may be provided to the chamber andsubsequently converted to supercritical CO₂ by increasing thetemperature and pressure in the chamber. In this embodiment, liquid CO₂is provided to the supercritical fluid chamber 203 at a first rate,wherein the first rate is configured to avoid disturbing solvent presenton the surface of the substrate. After a desired amount of liquid CO₂has been provided to the supercritical fluid chamber 203, more liquidCO₂ is provided to the supercritical fluid chamber 203 at a second rategreater than the first rate until the supercritical fluid chamber 203has been substantially filled with liquid CO₂. The second rate isconfigured to create a turbulent flow to encourage interaction betweenthe solvent on the substrate and the liquid CO₂. It is believed thatcausing the interaction of liquid CO₂ with the solvent material, versusa supercritical CO₂ fluid, greatly improves the process of displacementand removal of the solvent material from the surface of the substrate.Various apparatuses, such as a showerhead or angled passages in thechamber wall(s), may be used in combination with the increased flow at asecond rate to enhance turbulence and interaction of the liquid CO₂ withthe surfaces of the substrate disposed within the supercritical fluidchamber 203.

In both embodiments, the supercritical CO₂ exhibits propertiesintermediate between a gas and a liquid and has the ability to penetratewell into intricate nano-geometries, due to its gas-like transportbehaviors, which can be effective in particle and residue removal due toits excellent mass-transfer capabilities commonly associated withflowing liquids. In one embodiment, the supercritical flushing processmay proceed for about 30 seconds to about 60 seconds.

The supercritical flushing process may be achieved in several differentmanners. In one embodiment, the supercritical fluid may be introducedinto a volume above the substrate in the chamber 203 and allowed tostagnate. In one example, pure supercritical CO₂ above the surface ofthe substrate creates a concentration gradient between the volume abovethe substrate, where pure supercritical CO₂ exists, and the surface ofthe substrate where solvent, residues, and particles may exist. It isbelieved that the solvents, residues, and particles are drawn bydiffusion from the high-aspect ratio features on the surface of thesubstrate to the volume of CO₂ above the substrate due to the desire offluids to exist in thermodynamic equilibrium.

In another embodiment, supercritical flushing may be performed bymechanically flowing the supercritical fluid through the chamber 203.The supercritical fluid may be delivered with sufficient flow across thesurface of the substrate to cause the flowing supercritical fluid topenetrate the high-aspect-ratio features on the surface of the substrateand flush away solvents, residues, and particles that may be present inthe high-aspect ratio features. In some embodiments, the mechanical flowmay also work in concert with periods of stagnant fluid (e.g., CO₂)present in the chamber 203 to improve the flushing process. In thisexample, sequences of periods of mechanical flow across the substratesurface and then periods where the flow is stagnant may be used toimprove the supercritical flushing process and reduce the amount ofsupercritical fluid, such as supercritical CO₂, that may need to bereclaimed or exhausted.

Next, the substrate may be subjected to a supercritical drying process.This process may be controlled by adjusting the temperature and pressurewithin the chamber 203 to ensure a phase transfer of the chemicals orchemical mixtures from a supercritical to a gaseous state withoutentering a liquid state. FIG. 6 depicts the possible CO₂ phases atrelative temperatures and pressures. The process ensures thesupercritical fluid (area beyond the dashed line) changes to a gaseousstate without turning into a liquid, for example by crossing over theline separating the liquid and gaseous phases as shown in FIG. 6. Thefluids expelled from the high-aspect-ratio trenches during thesupercritical drying process may exhibit a negligible surface tensiondue to the characteristics of the supercritical fluid which results inthe reduction or elimination of line stiction. In one embodiment, thesupercritical CO₂ at about 40° C. and about 95 bar undergoes isothermaldepressurization at about 40° C. until the pressure drops to about 21bar. In one embodiment, the gasses remaining in the supercritical fluidchamber 203 may be vented from the chamber to an exhaust area.

The substrate may then be transferred from the supercritical fluidchamber 203 by the robot 208 to the post processing chamber 204. Thesubstrate may be post processed in the post processing chamber 204 byexposing the substrate to plasma at a low power for final treatment tocomplete the drying stiction removal process. The post processing mayun-stick any collapsed trenches and/or passivate the surfaces of thesubstrate. In one embodiment, oxygen (O₂) or halogen gas plasma may beapplied to the substrate by exposing the gas in the chamber to about 75W of RF energy to form a plasma over the surface of the substrate forabout 10 seconds. In another embodiment, the RF plasma formed in thepost processing chamber 204 may comprise a fluorocarbon, such as C₂F₆ orCF₄. The post processing of the substrate may release minor or temporarystictions, if any, caused by local impurities created by the chemicalsor chemical mixtures that were used in previous cleaning processes. Thepost processing may further release minor or temporary stictions causedby atomic interactions between the cleaned surfaces of device features,such as atomic orbital overlap, Van der Waal's forces, or the presenceof dangling bonds in adjacent device features in high energy states thatbond with each other to achieve a more stable, lower energy state.

The post processing may be most effective if implemented immediatelyafter the supercritical drying process because the impurities or atomicinteractions, as described above, have not had time to “set” or becomemore permanent. The post processing implemented immediately after thesupercritical drying step may even prevent clean surface atomicinteractions, such as dangling bonds from rearranging into lower energystates before the atoms transfer or share electrons to bond in stable,lower energy states. In another embodiment, any organic contaminationsremaining on the substrate may be removed with exposure to biasedplasma.

FIG. 3A illustrates the substrate processing sequence according to oneembodiment. The processing apparatus 300 comprises multiple chambers,such as a wet clean chamber 301, a solvent exchange chamber 302, asupercritical fluid chamber 303, and a plasma processing chamber 304similar to those previously described in conjunction with FIGS. 2A-2B.The substrate processing sequence proceeds through the processingapparatus 300 as subsequently described with reference to the method ofFIG. 8. The processing apparatus of FIG. 3 may further comprise a dryrobot 316 disposed in a factory interface 310. The dry robot 316 may besimilar to the wet robot 308 disposed in the transfer chamber 306 of theprocessing apparatus 300. The dry robot 316 may be configured totransfer substrates to and from the cassette(s) to the processingapparatus 300. In one embodiment, the dry robot 316 may be configured totransfer substrates from the cassette(s) 312 through the factoryinterface 310 and to the wet clean chamber 301. An end effector of thedry robot 316 may remove an unclean substrate from a cassette andtransfers the unclean substrate to the wet clean chamber 301 where thedry robot 316 may deliver the unclean substrate to the interior of thewet clean chamber 301. The dry robot 316 may also configured to transfersubstrates from the supercritical fluid chamber 303 to the plasmaprocessing chamber 304 and from the plasma processing chamber 304through the factory interface 310 to the cassette(s) 312. The endeffector of the dry robot 316 may remove a clean substrate from theinterior of the plasma processing chamber 304 and deliver the cleansubstrate to a cassette 312. It should be acknowledged that multiplearrangements of the chambers in the processing apparatus 300 may bepossible while still practicing the invention.

FIG. 3B illustrates the substrate process flow according to anotherembodiment. The processing apparatus 300 may be similar to theprocessing apparatus of FIG. 3A. In one embodiment, the wet robot 308may comprise a plurality of end effectors 320A, 320B, and 322 disposedin the transfer chamber 306, which may transfer substrates between thevarious processing chambers.

In one embodiment, end effectors 320A and 320B may be dedicated for wetprocessing transfer steps. For example, a substrate may be processed inthe wet clean chamber 301 or the solvent exchange chamber 302 and a thinfilm of liquid may remain on the surface of the substrate to protect thesurface of the substrate during transfer and to keep the substrate fromdrying out, thus reducing any variation in queue time from one substrateto another. The wet processing end effectors 320A and 320B may bededicated to transferring substrates between only two chambers,respectively, to prevent contamination of the substrate duringsubsequent processing steps. Wet processing end effector 320A maytransfer substrates from the wet clean chamber 301 to the solventexchange chamber 302. The wet processing end effector 320A travels in apath between the wet clean chamber 301, where the wet processing endeffector 320A may remove a substrate from the wet clean chamber 301, andthe solvent exchange chamber 302, where the wet processing end effector320A inserts the substrate into the solvent exchange chamber 302. Thewet processing end effector 320A may return along the same path andrepeat the process for each new substrate that has been processed in thewet clean chamber 301.

In one embodiment, wet processing end effector 320B is similar to wetprocessing end effector 320A. However, wet processing end effector 320Bmay transfer substrates from the solvent exchange chamber 302 to thesupercritical fluid chamber 303. The wet processing end effector 320Bmay travel in a path between the solvent exchange chamber 302 and thesupercritical fluid chamber 303. During operation, the wet processingend effector 320B may remove a substrate from the solvent exchangechamber 302, transfer the substrate to the supercritical fluid chamber303, and insert the substrate into the supercritical fluid chamber 303.In one configuration, the wet processing end effector 320B may returnalong the same path and repeat the process for each new substrate thathas been processed in the solvent exchange chamber 302.

In another embodiment, the wet robot further comprises a dry processingend effector 322. The dry processing end effector 322 may be dedicatedto substrate transfer between the supercritical fluid chamber 303 andthe plasma chamber 304. The dry processing end effector 322 may travelin a path between the supercritical fluid chamber 303 and the plasmachamber 304. During operation, the dry processing end effector 322 mayremove a substrate from the supercritical fluid chamber 303 and transferthe substrate to the plasma chamber 304, where the dry processing endeffector 322 inserts the substrate into the plasma chamber 304. In oneconfiguration, the dry processing end effector 322 may return along thesame path and repeat the process for each new substrate that has beenprocesses in the supercritical fluid chamber 303.

FIG. 4A illustrates a cross-sectional view of a wet processing chamberaccording to one embodiment. It is contemplated that the wet processingchamber, depicted in FIG. 4A, may be utilized as the wet clean chamber201 and/or as the solvent exchange chamber 202. In one embodiment, thewet processing chamber 400 may be a single substrate processing chamber.In one embodiment, the bottom side of the substrate 406 (substratebottom surface 414) may be exposed to cleaning, rinsing, and dryingsolutions 412, while the top side of the substrate 406 (substrate topsurface 416) may not exposed to any solutions. The substrate bottomsurface 414 (which could be the substrate non-device side) may be facingdown to be exposed to solutions 412. In another embodiment, both thesubstrate top surface 416 and the substrate bottom surface 414 may beexposed to one or more cleaning or solvent exchange solutions.

In one embodiment, the chamber 400 includes a rotatable substrateholding bracket (bracket) 448, which translates along an axis ofrotation device 449. The rotation device 449 may further be coupled toan electronic motor (not shown) which may rotate the bracket 448. Thechamber 400 also includes an access door (not shown) through which arobot arm (not shown) holding the substrate 406 may enter to place thesubstrate in the bracket 448. In one embodiment, the substrate 406, whenpositioned in the bracket 448, may rest on support clips 410 and avertical support post included in the bracket 448. The bracket 448,together with the support posts, may raise or lower the substrate to adesirable position.

In one embodiment, the bracket 448 may rotate the substrate 406 whilesolutions are dispensed from below during a cleaning cycle. In anotherembodiment, the bracket 448 may rotate the substrate 406 while solutions412 are dispensed from another nozzle on the top and/or the bottomsurface of the substrate 406 during a processing cycle, such as acleaning cycle. In another embodiment, the bracket 448 may rotate thesubstrate 406 in a horizontal plane during cleaning.

In one embodiment, the chamber 400 also includes a tube 428 connected toa through hole (feed port) 442. During a cleaning cycle, cleaning fluidsor chemicals may be introduced through the tube 428 from a cleaningchemical source 428A. As a result of substrate 406 rotation (spin), thesolution 412 may be applied to the substrate bottom surface 414. Anozzle located above the substrate 406 may dispense solutions to the topsurface 416 of the substrate 406 from a fluid source 416A. The residuesand/or liquids present on the substrate 406 that need to be cleaned offare removed as the substrate 406 is rotated at high speed.

In another embodiment, the chamber 400 further includes a filter 411such as a High Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) filter or anUltra Low Penetration Air (ULPA) filter. A downward flow of air 423 fromthe filter 411 and gravity may act to maintain the substrate 406positioned to the vertical support posts.

In another embodiment, the chamber 400 may also include other nozzles(not shown) that allow a solution to be delivered to the substrate topsurface 416. Thus, a first group of solutions may be transferred to thesubstrate bottom surface 414 while solutions from a different source (asecond group of solutions) may be transferred to a substrate top surface416. Solutions that can be applied to either surface of the substratemay include water or other cleaning solutions, such as solvents whichmay comprise acetone, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, and mayfurther comprise organic polar solvents such as formic acid,N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-Methylformamide,1,3-Dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, dimethylacetamide, and dimethylsulfoxide, or sequences, combinations, and mixtures thereof. Othersolvents comprising three or fewer carbon atoms may also be utilized invarious embodiments. The solvents utilized may be miscible in CO₂ and/ormay be solvated when contacted by at least liquid CO₂ or supercriticalCO₂.

In another embodiment, the chamber may be used to spin dry the substrate406 after each wet cleaning cycle. For example, after a wet cleaningcycle, the rotating device 449 continues to rotate the bracket 448, thusspinning the substrate 406. The spinning of the substrate 406 removesthe liquids (or reagents) that are used to clean the substrate 406. Inanother embodiment, the wet processing chamber 400 may be utilized as asolvent exchange chamber which may introduce a solvent, such as anorganic polar solvent and/or a non-polar solvent, through the tube 428to facilitate solvent exchange within the cleaning fluids trapped in thefeatures formed on the substrate 406.

FIG. 4B is a schematic illustration of a solvent filtration system 450according to certain embodiments described herein. For example, thesolvent filtration system 450 may be utilized in combination with thewet processing chamber 400 during a solvent exchange process. Thesolvent filtration system 450 comprises a fluid source 460, a fluiddrain 461, a first tank 462, a second tank 464, a first pump 466, afirst filter 468, a second pump 467 and a second filter 469. Thefiltration system 450 may include a first recirculation path 470, asecond recirculation path 472, and a third recirculation path 474, whichillustrate various fluid flow paths through the solvent filtrationsystem 450. Although illustrated as being coupled between the first tank462 and the second tank 464 along the second recirculation path 472, itis contemplated that the wet processing chamber 400 (FIG. 4A) may becoupled to the system 450 at various other locations.

Fluid within the system 450 flows from either of the first tank 462, orthe second tank 464, through the first pump 466 and the first filter 468to the second tank 464, or the first tank 462, respectively. Forexample, fluid present in the chamber 400 flows along path 475B througha first valve 483 through the second recirculation path 472 to thesecond tank 464. Fluid in the second tank 464 flows along path 471Athrough a second valve 481 via the first recirculation path 470. Fluidflowing along the first recirculation path 470 flows through the firstpump 466 and the first filter 468 through a third valve 482 along path471B to the first tank 462. The fluid then flows from the first tank 462via the third recirculation path 474 through the second pump 467 and thesecond filter 469 to a fourth valve 489. The fourth valve 489 may directthe fluid along path 477A to the second tank 464 or to the second valve481 along path 473B. Fluid may be recirculated along the firstrecirculation path 470 and the third recirculation path 474, optionallyincorporating the second tank 464, until a contaminant count within thefluid has reached a desirable level. When desired, fluid may bedelivered to the chamber 400 along the first recirculation path 470through the first pump 466 and the first filter 468 through the thirdvalve 482 along path 473C to the first valve 483 and chamber 400 alongpath 475A. If desired, the fluid may bypass the chamber 400 by flowingthrough the first valve 483 along path 473C and return to the secondtank 464

Thus, fluid used in the system 450 is recirculated at least two or moretimes prior to being utilized again in the wet processing chamber 400.The second tank 464 will generally receives contaminated fluid and thefirst tank only ever contains fluid that has been filtered at leastonce. It is believed that utilizing the system 450 having multiplerecirculation paths incorporating multiple tanks, pumps, and filtersprovides for a substantially linear decay of contaminants within thefluid when compared to single tank, pump, and filter systems whichgenerally exhibit an exponential decay in removing contaminants fromfluid. If desired, new fluid may be provided to the system 450 from thesource 460 or may be removed from the system 450 by the fluid drain 461.

In some configurations, a fluid “cleaning” process may be performed onthe fluid contained in the system 450. In one example, the fluid in thesecond tank 464 can be “cleaned,” such as having the particleconcentration contained therein reduced, by transferring the contents ofthe second tank 464 along paths 471A and 471B to the first tank 462 andthen back to the second tank 464 following paths 473B and 473C. In thisprocess, the fluid delivered from the second tank 464 is filtered onceas it passes through filter 468 before it reaches the first tank 462 andthen is filtered a second time when it is transferred through filter 468a second time before it is delivered back to the second tank 464 (e.g.,optional pump 467 and filter 469 are not present in the system 450). Onewill note that this process sequence can be completed one or more timesuntil a desired particle concentration is reached in the fluid. Inconfigurations where the filter 469 is used in the solvent filtrationsystem 450, the fluid can be filtered three times in the processsequence if the original fluid is delivered from the second tank 464 tothe first tank 462 following paths 471A and 471B, which filters thefluid once as it passes through the filter 468, and then is filtered asecond and a third time when the filtered fluid passes through filters469 and 468, respectively, on its way back to the second tank 464following paths 473B and 473C. Alternately, in some configurations, thefluid can be filtered twice if the original fluid is delivered from thesecond tank 464 to the first tank 462 following paths 471A and 471B,which filters the fluid once, and then is filtered a second time when itpasses through filter 469 to the second tank 464 following path 477A.After the cleaning process has been performed, the “cleaned” fluid canbe delivered to the processing chamber 400 using the path 475A, asdiscussed above.

FIG. 5A illustrates a cross-sectional schematic view of a supercriticalfluid chamber 500 according to one embodiment. Gas in the supercriticalfluid chamber 500 may be a substance that is capable of transitioninginto a supercritical state under certain appropriate conditions (e.g.pressure and temperature) to become a supercritical fluid. Thesupercritical fluids used in the supercritical fluid chamber 500 may bea substance that possesses liquid-like solvating properties and gas-likediffusion and viscosity, which enables the supercritical fluid torapidly penetrate into voids, pores, gaps, crevices, or openings, andcompletely remove or dissolve any liquids, residues, or contaminants.One example of such a gas is CO₂. Another example of such a gas is C₃H₈.Although other commercially available gases can be used to form asupercritical fluid, CO₂ is the most commonly used due to its inert,non-toxic, non-flammable characteristics and its abundance in nature.Appropriate conditions to transform CO₂ into supercritical fluid CO₂include a pressure of about 1200 psi or greater and a temperature ofabout 31° C. or greater, as shown in the CO₂ phase change diagram ofFIG. 6. Appropriate conditions to transform C₃H₈ into supercriticalfluid C₃H₈ include a pressure of about 620 psi (lbs/int) or greater anda temperature of about 100° C. or greater.

The supercritical fluid chamber 500 may be configured to exposesupercritical fluid to a substrate W disposed within the processingvolume 505 of the supercritical fluid chamber 500. The supercriticalfluid may be formed in the supercritical fluid chamber 500 or it may beformed outside the supercritical fluid chamber 500 and delivered intothe supercritical fluid chamber 500. In one configuration, the chamber500 may be disposed on and coupled to a transfer chamber 206. Thechamber 500 comprises a chamber body 501 which defines a processingvolume 505. The chamber 500 may be made from stainless steel or othersuitable structural materials that enable the chamber 500 to withstandan operating temperature and pressure sufficient to maintain a gas inits supercritical state. In one embodiment, surfaces 504 of the chamberbody 501 disposed adjacent to and defining the processing volume 505 maybe electrochemically polished to form a surface that has a low surfaceroughness (e.g., smooth surface). In another embodiment, the surfaces504 may be coated with a material, such as Teflon® coating or chromium.

A substrate support 510 may be disposed in the processing volume 505 andcoupled to the chamber body 501. The substrate support 510 furthercomprises a support surface 510A configured to receive the substrate W,such as a semiconductor substrate W. The support surface 510A may alsobe configured to actively restrain the substrate W after the substrate Whas been placed on the support surface 510A. For example, the substratesupport 510 may utilize electrostatic or vacuum chucking, an edge ring,or retaining pins or the like to prevent the substrate W from moving onthe support surface 510A during processing. In another embodiment, thesubstrate support 510 may comprise a plurality of support pins (notshown). In one embodiment, the substrate support 510 may be configuredto rotate the semiconductor substrate W during processing.

In one embodiment, the processing volume 505 comprises a small volume toreduce the amount of supercritical fluid necessary to fill theenclosure. The chamber 500 further comprises a slit valve door 502comprising one or more O-rings 540 coupled to the slit valve door 502.The O-rings 540 may be formed from an elastomeric material, such asrubber or silicone. A slit valve opening 503 provides access for a wetrobot 208 disposed in the transfer chamber 206 to transfer and receivesubstrates from the processing volume 505 along the substrate transferpath 545.

It is believed that adding more solvent to the substrate W afterprocessing in the solvent exchange chamber 202 will prevent “dry spots”from forming during the supercritical flushing and drying process andfurther facilitate particle removal and a reduction in stiction betweenfeatures. A solvent dispensing apparatus 592 may be disposed near theslit valve opening 503. The solvent dispensing apparatus 592, such as aspray bar, is configured to deliver a liquid to the substrate W prior toentry into the chamber 500 through the slit valve opening 503. Thesolvent dispensing apparatus 592 may be coupled to the chamber body 501or to the transfer chamber 206. A solvent source 590 is coupled to thesolvent dispensing apparatus 592 and configured to provide a liquidsolvent, such as IPA, for delivery to a top surface of the substrate Wvia the solvent dispensing apparatus 592. The solvent dispensingapparatus 592 is configured to deliver a small amount of solvent to thesubstrate W such that a layer of solvent completely covers the topsurface of the substrate W. In another embodiment, it is contemplatedthat the additional solvent may be provided to the substrate W after thesubstrate is inside the chamber 500.

The chamber 500 may further comprise one or more heating elements 550configured to heat the chamber 500 during the formation of supercriticalCO₂ and/or during depressurization of the chamber 500. The heatingelements 550 may be disposed proximate to or inside the processingvolume 505 of the chamber body 501. The heating elements 550 maycomprise resistive heating elements, fluid channels that are configuredto receive a heat control fluid, and/or other similar heating devices.The heating elements 550 may heat the fluid or gas in the processingvolume 505 to a desired temperature. In another embodiment, the chamber500 may include one or more acoustic or sonic transducers 552, such aspiezoelectric transducers (e.g., ultrasonic crystals), coupled to thesurfaces 504 of the chamber body 501 in the processing volume 505 orembedded within the chamber body 501 to create acoustic or sonic wavesfor cleaning the chamber 500. In another embodiment, the transducers 552may be disposed outside the chamber body 501 and be positioned to directthe sonic energy to the processing volume 505 of the chamber body 501.The transducers 552 may be coupled to a power source 554 adapted toprovide sufficient power for performing an ultrasonic cleaning process.The transducers 552 may also direct waves towards the substrate W toagitate the supercritical fluid within the chamber 500 duringsupercritical fluid processing.

A supercritical fluid delivery system 520 comprises a first fluiddelivery line 524 coupled to a fluid source 555, such as a CO₂ supply ora C₃H₈ supply, and a first fluid inlet 512 formed in the chamber 500. Apump 522 may be coupled to the first fluid delivery line 524 between thefirst fluid inlet port 512 and the fluid source 555 for delivering thepressurized fluid from the fluid source 555 into the processing volume505 of the chamber 500. Additionally, an inlet valve 523 may be disposedon the first fluid delivery line 524 between the pump 522 and the firstfluid inlet port 512 to control the flow of supercritical fluid to theprocessing volume 505.

FIG. 5E schematically illustrates a supercritical fluid delivery system520 according to another embodiment described herein. The supercriticalfluid delivery system 520 comprises the fluid source 555, the pump 522,a heating element 531, a filter 530, and a condenser 535. The fluiddelivery system 520 filters fluid in a supercritical state, but thendelivers the fluid to the chamber 500 as a liquid. For example, anamount of fluid, such as liquid CO₂, is provided from the fluid source555 to the pump 522, which may pressurize the fluid. The fluid is thenheated by the heating element 531 to transform the liquid into itssupercritical state. The supercritical fluid is then passed through thefilter, which may be a high pressure gas filter, to purify thesupercritical fluid. It is believed that a much higher filtrationefficiency is achieved utilizing a gas filter as opposed to utilizing aliquid filter. The supercritical fluid is then condensed by thecondenser 535 to return the supercritical fluid back to a liquid, whichis then provided to the chamber 500. In certain embodiments described ingreater detail below, the condenser 535 may be optional to allow thesupercritical fluid to be provided directly to the chamber in itssupercritical state.

Referring back to FIG. 5A, the chamber 500 may further comprise anoptional loop 519 for re-circulating fluid to and from the chamber 500.The loop 519 may further include a filter (not shown), such as anactivated charcoal filter, to purify the fluid. The loop 519 helpsproduce a flow of the supercritical fluid within the processing volume505, such as a laminar flow, to help prevent stagnation of thesupercritical fluid bath.

A fluid outlet 513 may be coupled to the chamber 500 for removal of thesupercritical fluid from the processing volume 505. The fluid outlet 513may release the supercritical fluid to atmosphere, may direct the usedsupercritical fluid to exhaust 527A and storage, or may recycle thesupercritical fluid for re-use (loop 519). As shown, the fluid outlet513 may be coupled to the pump 522 by a fluid return line 525 and a pumpreturn line 526. An exhaust valve 528 couples the fluid return line 525and the pump return line 526. The exhaust valve 528 directs thesupercritical fluid or gas in the fluid return line 525 to eitherexhaust 527 (or storage) or to the pump 522 to recycle the supercriticalfluid for re-use. Optionally, a condenser (not shown) may be coupledbetween the fluid outlet 513 and the fluid source 555 to condense thecontaminants in the fluid prior to being directed to the fluid source555.

The first fluid inlet port 512 and fluid outlet 513 may be disposedthrough a bottom wall of the chamber body 501. However, it iscontemplated that the first fluid inlet port 512 and the fluid outlet513 may be disposed at other areas through the walls of the chamber body501, such as through a top wall of the chamber body 501. The first fluidinlet port 512 may be adapted to receive a gas, such as CO₂. In certainembodiments, the first fluid inlet port 512 may be coupled to nozzles,showerheads, or other fluid delivery devices to direct the fluid towardsthe substrate.

In certain embodiments, the chamber 500 may comprise a purge gas source560. The purge gas source 560 may be coupled to a second fluid inletport 562 via a second fluid delivery line 564. The purge gas source 560may be adapted to provide a purge gas, such as pure nitrogen (N₂), argon(Ar), helium (He), or other high purity gases to the processing volume505. The chamber 500 may further comprise a pressurization apparatus570, such as a compressor, adapted to pressurize the processing volume505 of the chamber 500. The pressurization apparatus 570 may be coupledto the chamber through a pressure valve 572. In one embodiment, thepressurization apparatus 570 may pressurize a gas, such as the purgegas, after the gas has been provided to the processing volume 505. Inanother embodiment, the pressurization apparatus 570 may be coupled tothe purge gas source 560 and may be adapted to pressurize the purge gasprior to delivery to the chamber 500. In operation, the pressurizationapparatus 570 may pressurize a purge gas in the chamber 500 to betweenabout 1100 psi and about 2000 psi prior to introduction of thesupercritical fluid to the processing volume 505.

The chamber 500 may further comprise a cleaning fluid source 580. Thecleaning fluid source 580 may be adapted to provide one or more cleaningliquids, or mixtures thereof, to the chamber 500. Although shown asbeing coupled to the second fluid delivery line 564, the cleaning fluidsource 580 may be coupled to the chamber 500 at any convenient locationto lessen the complexity of any associated plumbing. In one embodiment,a fluid supplied by the cleaning fluid source 580 comprises water orN-Methylformamide. In another embodiment, the fluid supplied by thecleaning fluid source 580 comprises acetone ((CH₃)₂CO).

An in-situ cleaning process may be performed on the chamber 500 byproviding a cleaning fluid, such as water or N-Methylformamide, to thechamber 500 and activating the transducers 552 to ultrasonically agitatethe chamber surfaces 504, other chamber components and fluid within theprocessing volume 505. The cleaning fluid may be provided in a liquidform with a turbulent flow configured to contact all the chambersurfaces 504 and components of the chamber 500. For example, the secondfluid inlet port 562 may be angled or configured to provide a turbulentflow within the chamber 500. Subsequent to the ultrasonic agitation, thechamber 500 may be flushed with a solvent, such as acetone, to displacethe water or N-Methylformamide used during the ultrasonic agitation.Finally, a purge gas, such as N₂, may be provided from the purge gassource 560 to the chamber to further dry the chamber 500 interior. TheN₂ may be exhausted from the chamber 500 when the chamber 500 has beensufficiently dried. Heat may also be provided to the chamber 500 by theheating element 550 during or after the N₂ purge to further assist indrying the chamber 500. In certain embodiments, the in-situ cleaningprocess may be performed at atmospheric pressure. The in-situ cleaningprocess may be performed as needed to ensure optimal performance of thechamber 500.

The above embodiments describe a supercritical fluid chamber providingsupercritical fluid that may be formed inside the processing volume 505after a non-supercritical fluid is supplied to the chamber 500. In anembodiment where supercritical fluid is delivered to the chamber 500already in its supercritical phase, the supercritical fluid deliverysystem may further comprise a phase transition apparatus 521. The phasetransition apparatus 521 may be disposed on the first fluid deliveryline 524 between the pump 522 and the first fluid inlet port 512. Afilter 530 may be disposed on the first fluid delivery line 524 betweenthe first fluid inlet port 512 and the phase transition apparatus 521.The filter 530 may be capable of operating under pressures of about 3000psi, or below, to filter the supercritical fluid before it enters thechamber 500 and to remove impurities that may be present in thesupercritical fluid. The filter 530 may include a filter medium that hasa pore size of about 3 nanometers (nm), and may be formed from analuminum oxide (Al₂O₃) material.

The phase transition apparatus 521 comprises a processing region 533, acompression device 532, and a heating element 531. In one embodiment,the pump 522 supplies CO₂ gas from the fluid source 555 to theprocessing region 533 of the phase transition apparatus 521. The CO₂ gasmay be pressurized by the compression device 532 and/or heated by theheating element 531 to predetermined levels to create a supercriticalfluid therein. In one embodiment, CO₂ may heated to about 40° C. andpressurized to about 95 bar. In another embodiment, C₃H₈ may be heatedto about 100° C. and pressurized to about 620 psi (43 bar). Theresulting supercritical CO₂ or C₃H₈ may then be delivered through thefirst fluid delivery line 524 to the chamber 500 through the first fluidinlet port 512.

When the substrate W in the chamber 500 has been processed withsupercritical CO₂, a depressurization process occurs in the chamber. Inone embodiment, isothermal depressurization of the chamber 500 requiresthe chamber 500 remain at a desired temperature, such as about 40° C.,while the pressure is reduced to a desired pressure, such as about 21bar, before the gases remaining in the chamber 500 are vented from thechamber 500. In one example, the depressurization process proceeds at arate of about 200 psi/min until the pressure within the chamber is about400 psi. When the pressure is at about 400 psi, a greaterdepressurization rate may be utilized to further depressurize thechamber 500. The controlled depressurization process is performed in anisothermal environment which requires energy input from the heatingelement 550 to maintain a desired temperature during depressurization ofthe chamber. The chamber 500 pressure is reduced by releasingsupercritical fluid and/or gases through the fluid outlet 513 to theexhaust 527 or tank (not shown) formed within the pump 522. The gasremoved from the chamber 500 to exhaust 527A travels through the fluidreturn line 525 to the exhaust valve 528 which may be selected toexhaust 527A or return the gas to the pump 522 through the pump returnline 526. The substrate W may be optionally heated during venting toprevent cooling of the substrate and to prevent moisture uptake ordeposition.

FIG. 5B illustrates a schematic side view of the supercritical fluidchamber 500 of FIG. 5A according to one embodiment. The slit valve door502 may be coupled to a shaft 542 which may be coupled to a linearactuator 541. In one embodiment, two shafts 542 may be coupled to theslit valve door 502, the first shaft may be coupled to a linear actuator541 and the second shaft may be coupled to a linear bearing 543. Thelinear actuator may comprise a motor or air cylinder that may be coupledto a fluid source (not shown), such as a liquid or a gas source, toextend and retract the shaft 542 to position the slit valve door 502 toseal and unseal the slit valve opening 503. The slit valve door 502 maybe closed when the linear actuator 541 retracts the shaft 542 andcompresses the O-rings (not shown) coupled to the slit valve door 502against a sidewall of the chamber body 501. In one embodiment, the slitvalve door 502 compresses the O-rings with sufficient force against asidewall of the chamber body 501 to form an airtight seal to withstandthe pressure created inside the supercritical fluid chamber 500 duringprocessing.

FIG. 5C illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the supercriticalfluid chamber 500 of FIG. 5A. Similar to the chamber 500, a slit valvedoor 502 comprising one or more O-rings 540 may open and close the slitvalve 503 along the substrate transfer path. However, in the embodimentshown, the slit valve door 502 may be disposed outside of the processingvolume 505 and may contact an exterior surface of the chamber body 501.When the slit valve door 502 is disposed outside of the processingvolume 505, the volume of the processing volume 505 may be reduced. Areduction in the processing volume 505 may provide greater control overthe temperature and pressure, and reduce the amount of energy requiredto maintain the processing volume 505 under conditions necessary forsupercritical processing.

FIG. 5B illustrates a schematic side view of the supercritical fluidchamber 500 of FIG. 5C according to one embodiment. The slit valve door502 may be coupled to a shaft 542, which may be coupled to a linearactuator 541. In one embodiment, two shafts 542 may be coupled to theslit valve door 502, the first shaft may be coupled to a linear actuator541 and the second shaft may be coupled to a linear bearing 543. Thelinear actuator may comprise a motor or air cylinder that may be coupledto a fluid source (not shown), such as a liquid or a gas source, toextend and retract the shaft 542 to position the slit valve door 502 toseal and unseal the slit valve opening 503. The slit valve door 502 maybe closed when the linear actuator 541 retracts the shaft 542 andcompresses the O-rings (not shown) coupled to the slit valve door 502against an exterior of the chamber body 501. In one embodiment, the slitvalve door 502 compresses the O-rings with sufficient force against theexterior of the chamber body 501 to form an airtight seal to withstandthe pressure created inside the supercritical fluid chamber 500 duringprocessing. As shown, the slit valve door 502 may be disposed outsidethe processing volume 505 which may further reduce the volume of theprocessing volume 505 necessary for the chamber 500 to performsupercritical fluid processing. Further, the slit valve door 502disposed outside the processing volume 505 may reduce the potential forparticle generation within the chamber 500.

FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a plasma chamber accordingto one embodiment. More specifically, FIG. 7 provides a plasmageneration chamber 700. The chamber 700 generally includes walls 702 anda bottom 704 which encloses a process volume 706. A gas distributionplate 710 and substrate support assembly 730 may be disposed in theprocess volume 706. The process volume 706 may be accessed through aslit valve opening 708 formed through the wall 702 which enables asubstrate 740 to be transferred in and out of the chamber 700. Althoughillustratively shown as a plasma chamber, the chamber 700 may also beadapted to irradiate the substrate with electromagnetic energy, such asirradiate the substrate with light containing one or more of theultraviolet wavelengths.

The substrate support assembly 730 includes a substrate receivingsurface 732 for supporting the substrate 740 thereon. A stem 734 couplesthe support assembly 730 to a lift system 736, which raises and lowersthe substrate support assembly 730 between substrate transfer andprocessing positions. A shadow frame 733 may be optionally placed over aperiphery of the substrate 740 when processing to prevent deposition onthe edge of the substrate 740. Lift pins 738 may be moveably disposedthrough the substrate support assembly 730 and may be configured tospace the substrate 740 from the substrate receiving surface 732 tofacilitate exchange of the substrate with a robot blade. The substratesupport assembly 730 may also include heating and/or cooling elements739 utilized to maintain the substrate support assembly 730 at a desiredtemperature.

The gas distribution plate 710 may be coupled to a backing plate 712 andits periphery by a suspension 714. The gas distribution plate 710 mayalso be coupled to the backing plate 712 by one or more center supports716 to help prevent and/or control the straightness/curvature of the gasdistribution plate 710. In one embodiment, the gas distribution plate710 may be in different configurations with different dimensions. Thedistribution plate 710 may comprise a plurality of perforations 711disposed between the upper surface 798 and lower surface 750 of thedistribution plate 710. A gas source 720 may be coupled to the backingplate 712 to provide gas to a plenum defined between the gasdistribution plate 710 and backing plate 712. The gas from the source720 flows from the perforations 711 formed in the gas distribution plate710 to the process volume 706.

A vacuum pump 709 may be coupled to the chamber 700 to maintain theprocess volume 706 at a desired pressure. An RF power source 722 may becoupled to the backing plate 712 and/or to the gas distribution plate710 to provide an RF power to create an electric field between the gasdistribution plate 710 and the substrate support assembly 730 so that aplasma may be generated from the gases present between the gasdistribution plate 710 and the substrate support assembly 730. Variousfrequencies, such as a frequency of 13.56 MHz, may be used to form theplasma in the process volume 706. In one embodiment, O₂ plasma may beapplied to the substrate 740 at about 75 W for about 10 seconds. Theadditional plasma treatment may be capable of releasing minor ortemporary stictions in the high-aspect ratio trenches. It is believedthat the O₂ plasma is particularly useful for removing organicimpurities that may be present in the trenches.

A remote plasma source 724, such as an inductively coupled remote plasmasource, may also be coupled between the gas source 720 and the backingplate 712. The RPS 724 may be used to form a plasma in the processingvolume 706. The plasma travels through the processing volume 706 to atop surface 718 of the substrate 740. The plasma processes the substrate740 by removing stictions that may be present between the devicefeatures. In one embodiment, an electromagnetic radiation source 760,such as an ultraviolet light source, may be coupled to the chamber 700.The electromagnetic radiation source 760 may be coupled to a powersource (not shown) and may be positioned at any convenient locationeither inside the chamber 700 or outside the chamber 700. In oneconfiguration, the electromagnetic radiation source 760 is positionedoutside the chamber 700 so that it can transmit the generatedelectromagnetic energy through a window (not shown), which may becoupled to a portion of a wall 702 of the chamber 700, to thesubstrate's surface. The electromagnetic radiation source 760 may bepositioned to irradiate the top surface 718 of the substrate 740. Theelectromagnetic radiation source 760 may be adapted to provideultraviolet light to the substrate 740 having a wavelength between about50 nm and about 500 nm.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process flow diagram containing method steps forcleaning a substrate according to one embodiment. A substrate may beprocessed first in a film deposition or etching chamber to form a filmor features on the substrate. The method 800 begins at operation 810where a substrate may be placed in a wet clean chamber. The substratemay be provided to the wet clean chamber by a dry robot which removesthe substrate to be cleaned from a cassette. At operation 820, thesubstrate may be exposed to a cleaning solution to remove residues orliquids present on the substrate. In one embodiment, the cleaningsolution may comprise deionized water, solvents, or a combinationthereof.

At operation 830, the substrate may be transferred by a wet robot to asolvent exchange chamber. At operation 840, the previously appliedcleaning solution may be displaced by a solvent by exposing thesubstrate to a solvent delivered to the substrate that is disposed inthe solvent exchange chamber. In one embodiment, the solvent used todisplace the cleaning solution may be a chemical, which may be in eithera liquid or supercritical phase, or a sequence of chemicals or mixturesthereof in a liquid or supercritical phase. The condition and phase ofthe chemicals or mixtures for displacement of the residual material onthe substrate may be determined by the relative solubility andmiscibility among the cleaning solution constituents (e.g., deionizedwater), solvents, and the chemicals or mixtures thereof chosen. In oneexample, the solvents may be selected from the group consisting ofacetone, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone,N-Methylformamide, 1,3-Dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, dimethylacetamide,and dimethyl sulfoxide or combinations and/or sequences thereof. In oneembodiment, an organic polar solvent may be provided to the surface ofthe substrate in a sufficient amount to displace the cleaning solutionremaining on the surface of the substrate. In a subsequent operation, anon-polar solvent may be provided to displace the organic polar solvent.In one embodiment, the organic polar solvent is selected fromN-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone and/or N-Methylformamide and the non-polarsolvent is selected from acetone and/or IPA. In another embodiment, thesolvent exchange may performed by a fill and purge process by providingthe solvent to fill the chamber and after the solvent exchange has beenperformed on the substrate for a desired amount of time, purging thesolvent from the solvent exchange chamber.

In another embodiment, as noted above, suitable solvents for the solventexchange include N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, N-Methylformamide,1,3-Dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, dimethylacetamide, and dimethylsulfoxide. These organic polar solvents may be used to displace water,and the desirable solvents will generally have a high dielectricconstant (greater than 30) and a low evaporation rate (less than 0.5relative to n-Butyl Acetate). The organic polar solvents are alsogenerally miscible in water and suppress precipitation of silica fromthe silicon-water interaction. Optionally, the organic polar solventsmay be combined with dissolved O₂ gas during the solvent exchange toenhance particle removal. In a preferred embodiment, the organic polarsolvents comprise N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone or N-Methylformamide, orcombinations thereof.

In one embodiment, if the chemicals or chemical mixtures used in thedisplacement process are liquid, a phase transition process may be usedto convert the chemicals or chemical mixtures to a supercritical fluid.In one embodiment, 90 percent or greater liquid IPA used to displace theorganic polar solvent may be displaced by liquid CO₂ at about 5-8° C.and about 50 bar. The about 5-8° C. and about 50 bar liquid CO₂described above may be heated to about 40° C. and about 95 bar in thesolvent exchange chamber. As a result of the supercritical phase,capillary pressure due to the difference between liquid-gas andliquid-solid surface tension is eliminated. The elimination of capillarypressure prevents bending and stiction of high-aspect-ratio featuresthat often occur after performing a wet clean process (operation 810).

At operation 850, the substrate is then transferred from the solventexchange chamber by the wet robot to the supercritical fluid chamber.Optionally, at operation 860, a pressurized purge gas process may beperformed in the supercritical fluid chamber. A purge gas, such as pureN₂ or Ar may be provided to the supercritical fluid chamber which may bepressurized. The supercritical fluid chamber may be pressurized tobetween about 1100 psi and about 2000 psi.

At operation 870, supercritical fluid comprising the same types ofchemicals or chemical mixtures, as previously described above, is formedand introduced to the supercritical fluid chamber to clean and flushaway particles and residues remaining on the surface of the substrate ina supercritical flushing process. The purge gas, which may be present inthe supercritical fluid chamber if optional operation 860 has beenperformed, may be exhausted as the supercritical fluid is provided tothe supercritical fluid chamber. In this embodiment, an inconsequentialchange in pressure in the supercritical fluid chamber between the purgegas process and the supercritical flushing process may be achieved.Maintaining substantially the same pressure in the supercritical fluidchamber between operation 860 and operation 870 may prevent theformation of particles in the supercritical fluid chamber. As such, thepressure of the supercritical fluid chamber in optional operation 860may be selected to match the pressure required to maintain asupercritical fluid within the chamber in operation 870.

In one embodiment, CO₂ may be used to form a supercritical fluid usedduring operation 870. In another embodiment, C₃H₈ may be used to form asupercritical fluid. The supercritical CO₂ or C₃H₈ may be formed in thesupercritical fluid chamber or may be formed outside the supercriticalfluid chamber and then introduced to the supercritical fluid chamber. Inone embodiment, supercritical CO₂ at about 40° C. and about 95 bar isformed outside the supercritical fluid chamber and then introduced tothe supercritical fluid chamber so that it maintains its supercriticalfluid properties. In one embodiment, supercritical C₃H₈ at about 100° C.and about 620 psi (43 bar) is formed outside the supercritical fluidchamber and then introduced to the supercritical fluid chamber so thatit maintains its supercritical fluid properties. In one embodiment, thesupercritical fluid remains a supercritical fluid throughout the processof introducing it into the supercritical chamber. In another embodiment,the supercritical fluid is a supercritical fluid part of the way intothe introduction process or only at the end of the introduction process.

If the chemicals or chemical mixtures used in the displacement processare liquid, a phase transition process may be used to convert thechemicals or chemical mixtures to a supercritical fluid. In oneembodiment, 90 percent or greater liquid IPA used to displace theorganic polar solvent may be displaced by liquid CO₂ at about 5-8° C.and about 50 bar. The about 5-8° C. and about 50 bar liquid CO₂described above may be heated to about 40° C. and about 95 bar in thesupercritical fluid chamber. As a result of the supercritical phase,capillary pressure due to the difference between liquid-gas andliquid-solid surface tension is eliminated. The elimination of capillarypressure prevents bending and stiction of high-aspect-ratio features. Itis also contemplated that C₃H₈ may be used to convert the chemicals orchemical mixtures to a supercritical fluid.

The supercritical fluid exhibits properties intermediate between a gasand a liquid and generally has the ability to penetrate well intointricate nano-geometries due to gas-like transport behaviors and iseffective in particle and residue removal, due to its excellentmass-transfer capabilities commonly associated with liquids. Thesupercritical flushing process may proceed in several manners, both ofwhich remove contaminants from the device features. A first manner ofcontaminant removal involved the supercritical fluid physically removingthe contaminants from the device features by mechanical action, such asphysical interaction between the supercritical fluid and thecontaminants. The supercritical fluid penetrates the spaces (high-aspectratio structures, vias, voids, pores, etc.) in the device structure andprovides a fluid flow that flushes away contaminants, such as solvents,residues, and particles, from the device structures. The mechanical orphysical action created by the flowing fluid is benefitted by theliquid-like mass transfer properties that are exhibited by supercriticalfluid.

Another manner in which contaminants are removed is by the creation of aconcentration gradient with the non-contaminant containing supercriticalfluid. The supercritical fluid present in the processing volume abovethe surface of the substrate exhibits a lower contaminant concentrationthan is present in the device structures. In one embodiment, puresupercritical CO₂ or C₃H₈ is allowed to stagnate in, or even flowthrough, the volume above the surface of the substrate. Given the desireof fluids to exist at thermodynamic equilibrium, supercritical fluidcontaining contaminants near the device structures diffuse to the areaabove the substrate, thereby reducing the concentration of contaminantspresent in the device structures. It is also possible that both mannersof contaminant removal may work simultaneously, such as by use ofdiffusion mass transfer processes and physical interaction, to removecontaminants from the device structures. In both manners of contaminantremoval, or combinations thereof, contaminants may be effectivelyremoved from the device structures.

Next, the substrate is subjected to a supercritical drying process. Theprocess may be controlled to ensure a phase transfer of the chemicals orchemical mixtures from a supercritical to gaseous state without crossingover the liquid region. FIG. 6 shows the phase change of CO₂. Theprocess ensures the supercritical fluid (area beyond the dashed line)changes to a gaseous state without crossing over the line separating theliquid and gaseous phases. The fluids expelled from thehigh-aspect-ratio trenches during the supercritical drying processexhibit a negligible surface tension which results in the reduction orelimination of line stiction. In one embodiment, the supercritical CO₂at about 40° C. and about 95 bar undergoes isothermal depressurizationat about 40° C. until the pressure drops to about 21 bar. In anotherembodiment, the supercritical C₃H₈ at about 100° C. and about 620 psi(43 bar) undergoes isothermal depressurization at about 100° C. untilthe pressure drops to about 20 bar. The gasses remaining in thesupercritical fluid chamber are vented from the chamber. The gassesvented from the chamber carry with them the particles and residues takenfrom the high-aspect-ratio trenches and other surfaces of the substrate.

At step 880, the substrate is transferred from the supercritical fluidchamber by the wet robot to the post processing chamber. At step 890,the substrate is post processed by exposing the substrate to a plasma ata low power for final treatment to complete the drying process. In oneembodiment, an RF oxygen (O₂) plasma may be applied to the substrate atan RF power of about 75 W and frequency of 13.56 MHz for about 10seconds. The post processing of the substrate releases minor ortemporary stiction, if any, caused by local impurities created by thechemicals or chemical mixtures that were used in previous cleaningprocesses. The post processing is most effective if implementedimmediately after the supercritical drying process. In anotherembodiment, organic contaminations remaining on the substrate may beremoved with biased plasma. It is also believed that deposition orformation of a passivation layer on the surface of the substrate mayreduce the probability of stiction between high-aspect ratio featurespresent on the surface of the substrate.

In an alternative embodiment, step 890 may comprise post processing thesubstrate by exposing the substrate to one or more wavelengths ofelectromagnetic energy, such as ultraviolet (UV) light. In one example,UV treatment may be selected based upon the materials present on thesubstrate. The substrate may be exposed to UV light for an amount oftime suitable to release any remaining minor or temporary stiction, ifany, caused by local impurities created by the chemicals or chemicalmixtures that were used in previous cleaning processes. In oneembodiment, the substrate may be exposed to UV light having a wavelengthbetween about 50 nm and about 500 nm, such as between about 150 nm andabout 350 nm, such as between about 172 nm and about 300 nm. Similar tothe plasma treatment described above, the UV treatment may be mosteffective if implemented immediately after the supercritical dryingprocess. In another embodiment, step 890 may comprise a combination ofplasma and UV treatments to post process the substrate and remove anyremaining stiction or organic contamination that may be present on thesubstrate.

The aforementioned invention provides an apparatus that increasesthroughput of substrates during a supercritical cleaning and dryingprocess. The Utilizing a carousel configuration and multiple robotsincreases the processing apparatus' efficiency which should reduce thecost of supercritical cleaning and drying of substrates. Moreover,utilizing displacement, phase transition, supercritical flushing anddrying, and plasma post processing in combination with each otherprovides the elimination of line stiction after wet cleaning, especiallyfor substrates with high-aspect-ratio trenches.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention,other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof isdetermined by the claims that follow.

1. A method of processing a substrate, comprising: exposing a substratehaving high aspect ratio features formed thereon to a first solvent toremove an amount of a residual cleaning solution disposed on a surfaceof the substrate; exposing the substrate to a second solvent to removethe first solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate; and exposingthe substrate to a supercritical fluid to remove the second solventdisposed on the surface of the substrate, wherein exposing the substrateto the supercritical fluid comprises: delivering a gas in a liquid stateto a surface of the substrate that is disposed in a processing volume ofa first processing chamber to remove at least a portion of the secondsolvent disposed on the surface of the substrate; phase transitioningthe gas that is disposed within the processing volume from the liquidstate to a supercritical state; and isothermally depressurizing the gasdisposed in the processing volume from the supercritical state to agaseous state.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas comprisescarbon dioxide (CO₂).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondsolvent comprises a non-polar solvent that is miscible with the gas whenit is in the liquid state.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the secondsolvent is selected from the group consisting of acetone, ethanol andmethanol.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first solvent comprisesa polar solvent and the second solvent comprises acetone.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein the exposing the substrate to a second solvent isperformed in a second processing chamber that is coupled to the firstprocessing chamber through a transfer chamber.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein delivering the gas in the liquid state to the surface of thesubstrate further comprises: delivering a first amount of the gas in theliquid state to the processing volume at a first rate; and thendelivering a second amount of the gas in the liquid state to theprocessing volume at a second rate, wherein the second rate is greaterthan the first rate.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein exposing thesubstrate to the supercritical fluid further comprises causing thesupercritical fluid to flow over a surface of the substrate at a firstflow rate before isothermally depressurizing the gas disposed within theprocessing volume.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas comprisescarbon dioxide (CO₂), and the process of isothermally depressurizing thegas disposed in the processing volume from the supercritical state tothe gaseous state is performed at a temperature of about 40° C.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein delivering the gas in the liquid state to thesurface of the substrate further comprises delivering the gas in aliquid state to the processing volume until a pressure of about 50 barachieved.
 11. A method of processing a substrate, comprising: exposing asubstrate having high aspect ratio features formed thereon to a firstsolvent to remove an amount of a residual cleaning solution disposed ona surface of the substrate; exposing the substrate to a second solventto remove the first solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate;and exposing the substrate to a supercritical fluid to remove the secondsolvent disposed on the surface of the substrate, wherein exposing thesubstrate to the supercritical fluid comprises: delivering carbondioxide (CO₂) gas in a liquid state to a surface of the substrate thatis disposed in a processing volume of a first processing chamber toremove at least a portion of the second solvent disposed on the surfaceof the substrate; and phase transitioning the carbon dioxide (CO₂) gasthat is disposed within the processing volume from the liquid state to asupercritical state.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the secondsolvent is selected from the group consisting of acetone, ethanol andmethanol.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first solventcomprises a polar solvent and the second solvent comprises acetone. 14.The method of claim 11, wherein the exposing the substrate to the firstsolvent and exposing the substrate to the second solvent is performed ina second processing chamber that is coupled to the first processingchamber through a transfer chamber.
 15. The method of claim 11, whereindelivering the gas in the liquid state to the surface of the substratefurther comprises: delivering a first amount of the gas in the liquidstate to the processing volume at a first rate; and then delivering asecond amount of the gas in the liquid state to the processing volume ata second rate.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second rate isgreater than the first rate.
 17. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising isothermally depressurizing the gas disposed in theprocessing volume from the supercritical state to the gaseous state. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein exposing the substrate to thesupercritical fluid further comprises causing the supercritical fluid toflow over a surface of the substrate at a first flow rate beforeisothermally depressurizing the gas disposed within the processingvolume.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein delivering the gas in theliquid state to the surface of the substrate further comprisesdelivering the gas in a liquid state to the processing volume until apressure of about 50 bar achieved.
 20. A system for processing asubstrate, comprising: a transfer chamber; a first processing chamberthat is coupled to the transfer chamber and comprises a first substratesupport and a first fluid source, wherein the first fluid source isadapted to dispense a first solvent on high aspect ratio features formeda surface of a substrate that is disposed on the first substratesupport; a second processing chamber that is coupled to the transferchamber and comprises a second substrate support and a second fluidsource, wherein the second fluid source is adapted to dispense a secondsolvent on the high aspect ratio features formed the surface of thesubstrate that is disposed on the second substrate support; and a thirdprocessing chamber that is coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein thethird processing chamber comprises: a third substrate support that isdisposed in a processing volume of the third processing chamber; acondenser that is fluidly coupled to the processing volume and isconfigured to condense a gas from a gaseous state to a liquid state; apump that is configured to deliver a gas that is in the liquid statefrom the condenser to processing volume; and a heating element that isin thermal communication with the processing volume and the thirdsubstrate support.